India has produced many great Buddhist figures, whose popularity is worldwide especially in the Buddhist world. Today we are going to learn about the top 30 most famous and great Buddhist personalities of 2600 years of Indian history, according to historical popularity index. – famous Indian Buddhist People
India is the land of Lord Buddha. The Buddha was born in ancient India about 2600 years ago. Since India is the birthplace of Buddhism, there have been many world famous and greatest Buddhists in Indian history. These top 30 most popular Indian Buddhist people are ranked according to Pantheon’s Historical Popularity Index (HPI).
- Lists of famous Indians : Indians, Women, Kings, Queens, Actors, Singers & Musicians, Maharashtrians
Top 30 Most Famous and Great Buddhists of India
The following 30 individuals are the most famous Buddhist Personalities in India of all time, according to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI) of 2022. The highest HPI is 100, and we have listed people with HPI over 54.70.
30. Rahul Sankrityayan (HPI – 54.72)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Rahul Sankrityayan is ranked 30th among the most Famous Buddhist personalities in Indian history. His Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 54.72, and his biography is available in 23 different languages on Wikipedia.
Rahul Sankrityayan (9 April 1893 – 14 April 1963) was an Indian writer and a polyglot who wrote in Bhojpuri and Hindi. He played a pivotal role in giving travelogue a ‘literary form’.
He was one of the most widely travelled scholars of India, spending forty-five years of his life on travels away from his home. He was born into a Brahmin Hindu family, later he converted to Buddhism, and became a Buddhist monk (Bhikkhu). He is one of the most Famous Indian Buddhist monks in modern era.
29. Khema (HPI – 55.25)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Khema is ranked 29th among the most famous Buddhist figures in India. Her Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 55.25, and her biography is available in 15 different languages on Wikipedia.
Khema (Sanskrit: Kṣemā) was a Buddhist bhikkhuni, who was one of the top female disciples of the Buddha. She was the wife of King Bimbisara of the ancient Indian kingdom of Magadha. Khema was convinced to visit the Buddha by her husband, who hired poets to sing about the beauty of the monastery he was staying at to her.
She attained enlightenment as a laywoman while listening to one of the Buddha’s sermons, considered a rare feat in Buddhist texts. Following her attainment, Khema entered the monastic life under the Buddha as a bhikkhuni. According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha declared her his female disciple foremost in wisdom. Her male counterpart was Sariputta.
28. Śāntarakṣita (HPI – 56.90)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Śāntarakṣita is 28th Most Famous Buddhist person in India of all time. His Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 56.90, and his biography is available in 26 different languages on Wikipedia.
Śāntarakṣita or Shantarakshita (725–788) was an important and influential Indian Buddhist philosopher, particularly for the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Śāntarakṣita was a philosopher of the Madhyamaka school who studied at Nalanda monastery under Jñānagarbha, and became the founder of Samye, the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet. He is one of the most Famous Buddhist Figures in India.
27. Dignāga (HPI – 57.10)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Dignāga is ranked 27th among the most famous Indian Buddhist People of all time. His Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 57.10, and his biography is available in 25 different languages on Wikipedia.
Dignāga (also known as Diṅnāga, c. 480 – c. 540 CE) was an Indian Buddhist scholar and one of the Buddhist founders of Indian logic (hetu vidyā). Dignāga’s work laid the groundwork for the development of deductive logic in India and created the first system of Buddhist logic and epistemology (Pramana).
According to Georges B. Dreyfus, his philosophical school brought about an Indian “epistemological turn” and became the “standard formulation of Buddhist logic and epistemology in India and Tibet.” He was a great Sanskrit poet.
26. Shantideva (HPI – 59.42)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Shantideva is ranked 26th among the most famous Indian Buddhist People of all time. His Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 59.42, and his biography is available in 29 different languages on Wikipedia.
Shantideva was an 8th-century CE Indian philosopher, Buddhist monk, poet, and scholar at the mahavihara of Nalanda. He was an adherent of the Mādhyamaka philosophy of Nāgārjuna. He is also considered to be one of the 84 mahasiddhas and is known as Bhusuku. He was one of the most famous Buddhist monks.
25. Buddhaghosa (HPI – 60.40)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Buddhaghosa is ranked 25th among the most famous Indian Buddhist People of all time. His Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 60.40, and his biography is available in 36 different languages on Wikipedia.
Buddhaghosa was a 5th-century Indian Theravada Buddhist commentator, translator and philosopher. He worked in the Great Monastery (Mahāvihāra) at Anurādhapura, Sri Lanka and saw himself as being part of the Vibhajjavāda school and in the lineage of the Sinhalese Mahāvihāra.
His best-known work is the Visuddhimagga (“Path of Purification”), a comprehensive summary of older Sinhala commentaries on Theravada teachings and practices.
24. Maudgalyāyana (HPI – 62.90)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Maudgalyāyana is ranked 24th among the most Famous Buddhist personalities of Indian history of all time. His Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 62.90, and his biography is available in 36 different languages on Wikipedia.
Maudgalyāyana (Pali: Moggallāna), also known as Mahāmaudgalyāyana, was one of the Buddha’s closest disciples. Described as a contemporary of disciples such as Subhuti, Śāriputra, and Mahākāśyapa, he is considered the second of the Buddha’s two foremost male disciples, together with Śāriputra.
Maudgalyāyana and Śāriputra become spiritual wanderers in their youth. After having searched for spiritual truth for a while, they come into contact with the Buddhist teaching through verses that have become widely known in the Buddhist world. He was one of the most famous Buddhist monks.
Eventually they meet the Buddha himself and ordain as monks under him. Maudgalyāyana attains enlightenment shortly after that.
23. Atiśa (HPI – 63.28)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Atiśa is 23rd most Famous Buddhist person in India ever. His Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 63.28, and his biography is available in 35 different languages on Wikipedia.
Atiśa Dīpankara Śrījñāna (982–1054) was a Buddhist religious leader and master. He is generally associated with his work carried out at the Vikramashila monastery in Bihar. He is a famous Indian Buddhist.
He was one of the major figures in the spread of 11th-century Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism in Asia and inspired Buddhist thought from Tibet to Sumatra. He is recognised as one of the greatest figures of medieval Buddhism. In 2004, Atiśa was ranked 18th in the BBC’s poll of the greatest Bengalis of all time.
22. Mahākāśyapa (HPI – 63.35)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Mahākāśyapa is ranked 22nd among the most famous Indian Buddhist People of all time. His Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 63.35, and his biography is available in 30 different languages on Wikipedia.
Mahākāśyapa (Pali: Mahākassapa) was one of the principal disciples of Gautama Buddha. He is regarded in Buddhism as an enlightened disciple, being foremost in ascetic practice. He was one of the most famous Buddhist monks in India.
Mahākāśyapa assumed leadership of the monastic community following the paranirvāṇa (death) of the Buddha, presiding over the First Buddhist Council. He was considered to be the first patriarch in a number of Early Buddhist schools and continued to have an important role as patriarch in the Chan and Zen traditions.
21. Mahaprajapati Gautami (HPI – 63.46)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī is ranked 21st among the most famous Buddhists of India, ranked 13th among the most famous Indian Women and ranked 4th among the most famous queens of India of all time. Her Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 63.46, and Her biography is available in 28 different languages on Wikipedia.
Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī was the foster-mother, step-mother and maternal aunt (mother’s sister) of the Buddha. In Buddhist tradition, she was the first woman to seek ordination for women, which she did from Gautama Buddha directly, and she became the first bhikkhuni (Buddhist nun). She is a famous Indian Buddhist.
20 Famous Indian Buddhist People
20. Asanga (HPI – 63.65)
With an HPI of 63.65, Asanga is ranked 20th among the most famous Buddhist figures of India. His biography is available in 32 different languages on Wikipedia.
Asaṅga (4th century C.E.) was “one of the most important spiritual figures” of Mahayana Buddhism and the “founder of the Yogachara school”. He was born in Puruṣapura in ancient India, modern day Peshawar, Pakistan. He is a famous Indian Buddhist.
He and his half-brother Vasubandhu are regarded as the major classical Indian Sanskrit exponents of Mahayana Abhidharma, Vijñanavada (awareness only; also called Vijñaptivāda, the doctrine of ideas or percepts, and Vijñaptimātratā-vāda, the doctrine of ‘mere representation)) thought and Mahayana teachings on the bodhisattva path.
19. Ajatashatru (HPI : 64.45)
With an HPI of 64.45, Ajatasattu is ranked 18th among the most Famous Indian Kings of all time and ranked 19th among the most Famous Indian Buddhist personalities of all time. His biography is available in 35 different languages on Wikipedia.
Ajatasattu or Ajatasatru (492 to 460 BCE) was one of the most important kings of the Haryanka dynasty of Magadha in East India. He was the son of King Bimbisara and was a contemporary of both Mahavira and the Buddha.
He forcefully took over the kingdom of Magadha from his father and imprisoned him. He fought a war against the Vajjika League, led by the Licchavis, and conquered the republic of Vaishali. The city of Pataliputra was formed by fortification of a village by Ajatashatru.
18. Vasubandhu (HPI – 64.47)
With an HPI of 64.47, Vasubandhu is ranked 18th among the most famous Indian Buddhist People of all time. His biography is available in 41 different languages on Wikipedia.
Vasubandhu (4th to 5th century CE) was an influential Buddhist monk and scholar from Puruṣapura in ancient India, modern day Peshawar, Pakistan. He was a philosopher who wrote commentary on the Abhidharma, from the perspectives of the Sarvastivada and Sautrāntika schools.
After his conversion to Mahayana Buddhism, along with his half-brother, Asanga, he was also one of the main founders of the Yogacara school. He was one of the most famous Buddhist monks in India.
17. Kanishka (HPI : 64.83)
With an HPI of 64.83, the emperor Kanishka is ranked 16th among the most Famous Kings or Emperors of India and ranked 17th among the most famous Indian Buddhist People of all time. His biography is available in 43 different languages on Wikipedia.
Kanishka was an Indian emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign (c. 127–150 CE) the empire reached its zenith. He is famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements.
A descendant of Kujula Kadphises, founder of the Kushan empire, Kanishka came to rule an empire, extending from Central Asia and Gandhara to Pataliputra on the Gangetic plain. He is one of the great Buddhist kings of India.
The main capital of his empire was located at Puruṣapura (Peshawar) in Gandhara, with another major capital at Mathura. Coins of Kanishka were found in Tripuri (present-day Jabalpur). Kanishka inaugurated Mahayana Buddhism. He is one of the most Famous Buddhist Figures in India.
16. Ashvaghosha (HPI – 65.75)
With an Historical Popularity Index of 65.75, Ashvaghosha is ranked 16th among the most famous Indian Buddhist People of all time. His biography has been translated into 43 different languages of Wikipedia.
Aśvaghoṣa, also transliterated Ashvaghosha, (c. 80 – c. 150 CE) was a Sarvāstivāda or Mahasanghika Buddhist philosopher, dramatist, poet and orator from India. He is believed to have been the first Sanskrit dramatist, and is considered the greatest Indian poet prior to Kālidāsa.
He was the contemporary and spiritual adviser of Kanishka. He wrote Buddhacharita and Vajrasuchi. He was the most famous in a group of Buddhist court writers, whose epics rivalled the contemporary Ramayana.
Whereas much of Buddhist literature prior to the time of Aśvaghoṣa had been composed in Pāli and Prakrit, Aśvaghoṣa wrote in Classical Sanskrit. He is one of the most famous Buddhist teachers.
15. Bimbisara (HPI : 66.67)
With an HPI of 66.67, Bimbisara is ranked 15th among the most famous Indian Buddhist People and ranked 13th among the most Famous Indian Kings of all time. His biography has been translated into 40 different languages of Wikipedia.
Bimbisāra (558 – 491 BCE) was a King of Magadha (r. 543 – 492 BCE or c. 400 BCE) and belonged to the Haryanka dynasty. He was the son of Bhattiya. His expansion of the kingdom, especially his annexation of the kingdom of Anga to the east, is considered to have laid the foundations for the later expansion of the Mauryan Empire.
Bimbisar came to the throne of Magadha in 543 BC at the age of 15. He was intelligent, diplomatic, strategic and mighty. He was a contemporary of Buddha and a follower of Buddhism.
14. Shuddhodana (HPI : 66.69)
With an Historical Popularity Index of 66.69, Shuddhodana is ranked 14th among the most famous Indian Buddhist People and ranked 12th among the most Famous Indian Kings of all time. His biography has been translated into 34 different languages of Wikipedia.
Śuddhodana or Shuddhodana, the father of the Buddha, was a king of the Shakya clan, who lived in an oligarchic republic, with their capital at Kapilavastu.
13. Harshavardhana (HPI – 67.46)
With an Historical Popularity Index (HPI) of 67.46, the emperor Harshavardhana is ranked 13th among the most famous Indian Buddhist People and ranked 10th among the most Famous Indian Kings of all time. His biography has been translated into 44 different languages of Wikipedia.
Harshavardhana or Harsha (c. 590–647 CE) was a Pushyabhuti emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 CE. He was the son of Prabhakaravardhana who had defeated the Alchon Huna invaders, and the younger brother of Rajyavardhana, a king of Thanesar, present-day Haryana.
At the height of Harsha’s power, his territory covered much of north and northwestern India, with the Narmada River as its southern boundary. He eventually made Kannauj (in present Uttar Pradesh state) his capital, and ruled till 647 CE. He was a Buddhist convert in a Hindu era. He is one of the most powerful Indian Rulers in History.
Harsha was defeated by the Emperor Pulakeshin II of the Chalukya dynasty in the Battle of Narmada, when he tried to expand his empire into the southern peninsula of India. According to the Chinese Buddhist traveler Xuanzang, Harsha was a devout Buddhist. Xuanzang states that Harsha built monasteries at the places visited by the Buddha. He is one of the great Buddhist kings of India.
12. Yashodhara (HPI – 68.11)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), the Princess Yasodharā is ranked 12th among the most famous Indian Buddhist People and ranked 6th among the most famous Indian women of all time. Her Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 68.11, and her biography is available in 34 different languages on Wikipedia.
Yaśodharā was the wife of Prince Siddhartha — until he left his home to become a śramaṇa— the mother of Rāhula, and the sister of Devadatta. She later became a Buddhist Nun and is considered an arahatā.
Yaśodharā was the daughter of King Suppabuddha, and Amita. She was born on same day in the month of Vaishaka as prince Siddhartha. Her grandfather was Añjana a Koliya chief, her father was Suppabuddha and her mother, Amitā, came from a Shakya family.
The Shakya and the Koliya were branches of the Ādicca (Sanskrit: Aditya) or Ikshvaku dynasty. There were no other families considered equal to them in the region and therefore members of these two royal families married only among themselves.
She was wedded to the Shakya prince Siddhartha, when they were both 16. At the age of 29, she gave birth to their only child, a boy named Rāhula. On the night of his birth, the prince left the palace.
Yaśodharā was devastated and overcome with grief. Once prince Siddhartha left his home at night for enlightenment, the next day, everyone was surprised by the absence of the prince.
11. Śāriputra (HPI – 68.12)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Śāriputra is ranked 11th among the most famous Buddhist people of India. His Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 68.12, and his biography is available in 42 different languages on Wikipedia.
Śāriputra (born Upatiṣya, Pali: Upatissa) was one of the top disciples of the Buddha. He is considered the first of the Buddha’s two chief male disciples, together with Maudgalyāyana.
Śāriputra had a key leadership role in the ministry of the Buddha and is considered in many Buddhist schools to have been important in the development of the Buddhist Abhidharma.
He frequently appears in Mahayana sutras, and in some sutras, is used as a counterpoint to represent the Hinayana school of Buddhism. He is one of the most famous Buddhist teachers.
Top 10 Famous Buddhist Figures in India
10. Rahul (HPI – 68.57)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Rahul is ranked 10th among the most famous Buddhist people of India. His Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 68.57, and his biography is available in 34 different languages on Wikipedia.
Rahul or Rāhula was an Indian Buddhist monk. He was the only son of the Buddha, and his wife, princess Yaśodharā. Rahul was born before the renunciation of Gautam Buddha. At an early age, the Buddha inducted him into his Bhikkhu Sangha and Rahula later became a Bhikkhu.
- Top 25 Most Famous Indian Women
# Mahamaya (HPI – 69.19)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), the Queen Maya is ranked 1st among the most famous Indian queens, ranked 3rd among the most famous Indian women, and the 10th most famous personality of the history of Indian Buddhism. Her Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 69.19. Her biography is available in 40 different languages on Wikipedia.
Queen Māyā of Shakya, also known as Mahamaya and Māyādevī, was the birth mother of Gautama Buddha, the sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. She was wife of King Shuddhodana, and sister of Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī.
Maya died soon after the birth of Buddha, generally said to be seven days afterwards. Thus Maya did not raise her son who was instead raised by his maternal aunt Mahapajapati Gotami. The Buddha, the son of Maya, ranks first among the most famous personalities of India ever.
9. Amartya Sen (HPI – 69.78)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Amartya Sen is ranked 9th among the most famous Buddhist people of India. His Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 69.78, and his biography is available in 82 different languages on Wikipedia.
Dr Amartya Sen (born 3 November 1933) is an Indian economist and philosopher, who since 1972 has taught and worked in the India, the United Kingdom and the United States. Sen has made contributions to welfare economics, social choice theory, economic and social justice, economic theories of famines, decision theory, development economics, public health, and measures of well-being of countries.
He was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998 and India’s highest civilian honour the Bharat Ratna the following year for his contribution to welfare economics. Dr. Amartya Sen is one of the most famous Buddhist celebrities in india.
Dr. Sen is influenced by the illuminating reasoning of Gautama Buddha. At Harvard, in a discussion with Dr. Suraj Yengde, Dr. Amartya Sen said that “Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s decision to embrace Buddhism was very rational and I myself am a Buddhist.”
8. Padmasambhava (HPI – 69.92)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Padmasambhava is ranked 8th among the most famous Buddhist people of India. His Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 69.92, and his biography is available in 54 different languages on Wikipedia.
Padmasambhāva, also known as Guru Rinpoche, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries). He is one of the most Famous Indian Buddhist monks.
According to some early Tibetan sources like the Testament of Ba, he came to Tibet in the 8th century and helped construct Samye Monastery, the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet. However, little is known about the actual historical figure other than his ties to Vajrayana and Indian Buddhism.
7. Bodhidharma (HPI – 72.92)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Bodhidharma is the 7th most famous Indian Buddhist and the 22nd most famous Indian of all time. His Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 72.92, and his biography is available in 54 different languages on Wikipedia.
Bodhidharma was an Indian philosopher and Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th or 6th century. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Chan Buddhism to China, and regarded as its first Chinese patriarch. He is one of the most famous Buddhist teachers.
According to a 17th century apocryphal story found in a manual called Yijin Jing, he began the physical training of the monks of Shaolin Monastery that led to the creation of Shaolin kungfu. He is known as Dámó in China and as Daruma in Japan. His name means “dharma of awakening (bodhi)” in Sanskrit.
6. Ananda (HPI – 73.88)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Ananda is ranked 6th among the most famous Indian Buddhists and ranked 20th among the most famous Indian people of all time. His Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 73.88. His biography is available in 48 different languages on Wikipedia.
Ananda (5th–4th century BCE) was the primary attendant of the Buddha and one of his ten principal disciples. Among the Buddha’s many disciples, Ānanda stood out for having the best memory. He is one of the most Famous Indian Buddhist monks.
Most of the texts of the early Buddhist Sutta-Piṭaka are attributed to his recollection of the Buddha’s teachings during the First Buddhist Council. For that reason, he is known as the Treasurer of the Dhamma, with Dhamma referring to the Buddha’s teaching.
In Early Buddhist Texts, Ānanda was the first cousin of the Buddha. Twenty years in the Buddha’s ministry, Ānanda became the attendant of the Buddha, when the Buddha selected him for this task.
Ānanda performed his duties with great devotion and care, and acted as an intermediary between the Buddha and the laypeople, as well as the saṅgha. He accompanied the Buddha for the rest of his life, acting not only as an assistant, but also a secretary and a mouthpiece.
5. Nagarjuna (HPI – 75.31)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Nagarjuna is the 5th most famous Indian Buddhist and the 15th most famous Indian of all time. His Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 75.31, and his biography is available in 91 different languages on Wikipedia.
Nāgārjuna (c. 150 – c. 250 CE) was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers. Jan Westerhoff considers him to be “one of the greatest thinkers in the history of Asian philosophy.” He is the most famous Buddhist Personalities in India.
Nāgārjuna is widely considered to be the founder of the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy and a defender of the Mahāyāna movement. With the exception of Adi Shankara, no other thinker has equaled him in matters of spirituality, logical acumen and spiritual insight.
His Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (Root Verses on Madhyamaka, or MMK) is the most important text on the madhyamaka philosophy of emptiness. The MMK inspired a large number of commentaries in Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, Korean and Japanese and continues to be studied today.
4. Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar (HPI – 75.72)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is ranked 4th among the most famous Indian Buddhist personalities, ranked 14th among the most famous personalities of India, and ranked 1st among the most famous personalities of Maharashtra.
Ambedkar’s Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 75.72, and His biography is available in 132 different languages on Wikipedia. BR Ambedkar is widely regarded as the most intelligent Indian of all time. He is the most famous Buddhist personalities in India.
Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956), also referred to as Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, is one of the foremost polymaths in history. Ambedkar was a philosopher, economist, jurist, politician, social reformer, journalist, lawyer, author, anthropologist, theologian, social scientist, political scientist, environmentarian, educationist, constitutionalist, polyglot, linguist, orator, historian etc. He was one of the founding fathers of the republic India.
He was the leader of Dalits, who inspired the Dalit Buddhist movement after renouncing Hinduism. Ambedkar is recognised as the “Father of the Constitution of India“, who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served as Law and Justice minister in the first cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru.
In 1956, he embraced Buddhism with millions of followers, and revived Buddhism in India. After the emperor Ashoka, Babasaheb has done the most work for the spread of Buddhism in India. He is the great Buddhist leader of India. Ambedkar was voted “the Greatest Indian” in 2012 by a poll organised by Outlook magzine, ahead of Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel. Nearly 20 million votes were cast.
3. 14th Dalai Lama (HPI – 79.98)
14th Dalai Lama’s Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 79.98. His biography is available in 116 different languages on Wikipedia. According to the Historical Popularity Index, the Dalai Lama is the most famous living person in India as well as in China. Among the Most famous people in China, Dalai Lama ranks 9th.
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), 14th Dalai Lama is ranked 3rd among the Most famous Buddhists of India, ranked 6th among the most famous person in Indian History. He ranks 1st among the most famous Buddhist monks today.
The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935) is the current Dalai Lama. He is the highest spiritual leader and former head of state of Tibet. He considers himself a ‘spiritual son of India’. He is considered a living Bodhisattva, specifically, an emanation of Avalokiteśvara in Sanskrit and Chenrezig in Tibetan.
He is also the leader and a monk of the Gelug school, the newest school of Tibetan Buddhism, formally headed by the Ganden Tripa. The central government of Tibet, the Ganden Phodrang, invested the Dalai Lama with temporal duties until his exile in 1959.
2. Ashoka the Great (HPI – 82.44)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), the Emperor Ashoka is ranked 2nd among the most famous Indian Buddhist people, ranked 1st among the most famous Indian Rulers, and ranked 3rd among the most famous Indian People of all time. His Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 82.44, and his biography is available in 150 different languages on Wikipedia.
Ashoka (304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during c. 268 to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, stretching from present-day Afghanistan in the west to present-day Bangladesh in the east, with its capital at Pataliputra.
A patron of Buddhism, he is credited with playing an important role in the spread of Buddhism across ancient Asia. He is considered as one of the best rulers in the world. He is the most famous Buddhist personalities in India.
Ashoka is considered by many scholars to be the second greatest Indian after Buddha. However, according to this 2022 Historical Popularity Index, Emperor Ashoka ranks third among the most popular Indians in the world after Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi.
1. Gautama Buddha (HPI – 90.82)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), the Buddha is ranked 1st among the most famous Indian personalities of all time. His Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is 90.82. His biography is available in 201 different languages on Wikipedia.
The Buddha (623 or 563 BCE – 543 or 483 BCE), also known as Gautama Buddha and Siddhartha Gautama, was an Indian philosopher, śramaṇa (wandering ascetic), teacher and social reformer who lived in ancient India during the 7th or 6th century BCE.
He was the founder of Buddhism and is revered by Buddhists as a fully awakened being who taught a path to Nirvana, that is, freedom from ignorance, craving, rebirth and suffering. The Buddha is considered to be the greatest Indian ever. He is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential people of all time.
About the Historical Popularity Index
As you know, this ranking of the top 30 most famous personalities of India is ordered by Pantheon’s Historical Popularity Index – 2022. Pantheon aggregates information about individuals’ online popularity. HPI is currently made of five components: the “age” of a biography’s character (e.g. The Buddha is more than 2,600 years old), number of Wikipedia language editions in which the biography has a presence (L), the concentration of the pageviews received by a biography across languages (L*), the stability of pageviews over time (CV), and the number of non-English pageviews received by that biography.
Facts about the Buddhist people
# Mahamaya (HPI – 59.19) is not a Buddhist. Hence she was not ranked even though she was included in the list.
This list contains 12 famous Buddhist figures from the time of the Buddha or his contemporaries, generally dating from the 4th century BCE to the 6th century BCE. And one person who lived in the 3rd century BC. Among the 30 most popular Buddhists in India, 13 people were born before Jesus Christ.
From the 1st century AD to the 11th century AD, there were 13 great Buddhist personalities in India. After this for about 900 years (11th century to 19th century) no great Buddhist figure arose in India. But in the 20th and 21st centuries, India produced four famous and great Buddhist figures.
The Famous Buddhist Personalities by Century
6th, 5th and 4th century BCE – Khema, Mogalayana, Mahakashyapa, Ajatshatru, Bimbisara, Suddhodhana, Mahaprajapati Gautami, Yashodhara, Sariputra, Rahula, Ananda, [Mahamaya] and Gautama Buddha.
3rd century BC – Ashoka
1st and 2nd century AD – Ashvaghosha
2nd century – Kanishka
2nd and 3rd century – Nagarjuna
4th century – Vasubandhu and Asanga
5th century – Buddhaghosa
5th and 6th century – Bodhidharma and Dignag
7th century – Harshavardhan
8th century – Shantideva and Santarakshita
8th and 9th century – Padmasambhava
10th and 11th century – Atish
After this for about 900 years (eleventh to nineteenth century) no famous Buddhist figure arose in India.
20th century – Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Rahul Sankritayan
20th and 21st century – 14th Dalai Lama and Dr. Amartya Sen
This list of popular Buddhist figures includes only four women (29, 21, 12, #10). While Amartya Sen (#9) and Dalai Lama (#3) are two living persons.
If we look at the list of 30 most popular people in India till date according to Historical Population Index, it includes the first 7 (Buddha to Bodhidharma) Buddhists out of these 30 most popular Indian Buddhists.
The Indian kings who followed Buddhism
Ashoka, Kanishka, Harshavardhan, Ajatshatru, Bimbisara, and Suddhodhana are the most famous Indian kings who followed Buddhism.
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